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It was a miracle, Noelle thought, that she hadn’t exploded into a million smiling little pieces by now. Today was the festival. The event of Hometown. And Susie had decided to go with her of all people? Gosh, she could die. Maybe she still would die, depending on how the day went.
She could see it already, her and Susie on the ferris wheel, for real this time, getting closer, and closer, and closer until—well, realistically, until Kris, who was probably also there, decided to shake the car again for old time’s sake, or to piss her off, or a little bit of both. But there was also a world where that led to her falling into Susie’s arms and embracing the rest of the ride, so really, it would be fine, she decided. It had to be. Now she just had to pick her very best dress.
~~~
It wasn’t a surprise to Noelle, when she finally found Susie head-deep into bobbing for apples, that Kris was there with her. Or that Susie hadn’t dressed up—after all, she’d figured by now, she probably didn’t have much money for new clothes. That was something she could help fix, and with the bonus of seeing Susie try on a handsome little outfit or two as well. No, what was surprising was what Susie was holding when she finally turned around, crushing an apple into juice in her mouth (hot, Noelle decided)—an upside-down bouquet of flowers in bright yellows, reds, and greens, its lack of color coordination made up for by its sheer volume.
And more than that, it had to be for Noelle. If it was Kris’s, they would have already been holding it, or decapitating each flower one-by-one (a pastime, she recalled, they delighted in as a kid)—and if it was for Susie, then, well, she’d have probably eaten it already, as Noelle had learned yesterday. Maybe she should have brought some for Susie with another chalk lunchbox. Oh well; that could be first date material! …If this didn’t count as the first date. Oh, angel, did it????? Oh no, this was absolutely a first date, and she’d read plenty of literature on the matter, but that didn’t explain how to stand properly, or how to greet your date, or–
“Yo, Noelle! Looks like you made it. Was kinda worried about that, after, uh… yesterday.” Punctuating her statement, Susie finished off the apple she’d bobbed with a hearty crunch, juice leaking from the corners of her mouth. God, be normal, Noelle. It couldn’t be that hard to make words leave her mouth. She did it all the time. Watch.
“Oh, faha, yeah, mom was pretty pissed yesterday, wasn’t she?” Understatement of the year. “But, uh, don’t worry, I wasn’t going to let that stop me!” Meaning, she’d jumped off her balcony window. At least her horns didn’t get stuck this time. “Anyways, umm… are those… flowers??” She tried not to look at them too pointedly, but when they were hanging there, still upside down… what else was she supposed to look at? Other than Susie, which was also a bad idea, considering there were dribbles of water running down her white t-shirt, and–oh, god, if she continued down that line of thought she’d have to dunk her own head into the apple bobbing tank.
“Yeah, I, uh, just sorta picked these up,” Susie responded, thrusting them towards Noelle without ceremony. A few yellow petals crushed against the bouquet’s paper, causing Noelle to cringe in response. She couldn’t dry them and keep them forever if they were already messed up!!!
“Do you, uh… like them…?” Gosh, what was this–Susie never acted so shy!! And if she looked really closely, careful to only use her peripheral vision, Noelle could spot her little tail wagging!!!
“Umm, yes??? I love them?? Thank you, Susie!!” Noelle could bounce up and down with joy, right now. But she wouldn’t. For the flowers.
“Good, ‘cuz, uh… I actually… uh, well, Kris’s dad helped me pick them out.”
“Oh?? You picked them specifically? Like, using flower language?”
“Uhh, well, something like that–”
Intrigued, Noelle took a closer look at the components of the bouquet. She’d imagined before that Susie had simply picked one from a lineup, but to know that she’d considered her flower choices carefully…
Her eyes settled, first, on the bright yellow roses in the center. Not the best start she could get, admittedly—at best yellow roses were meant to send the message of friendship, but at worst, they signaled jealousy, or falling out of love.
“Yellow roses, huh…?”
“I, uh, I was thinking they looked like your hair,” Susie admitted while Kris shook their head out like a wet dog.
“And, um, what do you think, yellow roses mean…?”
“The same as any other rose…? You know, that, uhh… that you’re pretty cool.”
Noelle nodded, tentative, before looking next to the geraniums, a bright poppy red. …Historically, she recalled, these signaled stupidity.
“And the red ones…?” Noelle pressed a bit more, already getting the notion Susie knew far less about flowers than she’d admit.
“They kinda looked like ornaments…? I, uh, figured red means good things, yeah?”
Then why not apply that logic to the roses…? Oh, well. There were the green-and-red leaves of the begonia, as well, there to project, with all their force, beware.
“And what about these leaves, here? The green-and-red ones?”
“They had Christmas colors, and…” Susie trailed off.
“And…?” Noelle motioned for Susie to go on.
“And they looked tasty,” she murmured, a hint of red flushing her cheeks.
All together, these flowers said something along the lines of… beware, idiot, I don’t love you.
And as she watched Susie eye the yellow roses with a bit more voracity than she’d prefer, Noelle decided that was about the most romantic thing somebody like Susie could ever say.